The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method for fabricating the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device which has a plurality of liquid crystal layers stacked on a substrate and provides bright color images even when it is a reflective type, and to a method for fabricating the same.
1. First Prior Art
Widely used conventional liquid crystal display devices display images by combining twisted nematic liquid crystal and a polarizing plate so as to control penetrating light for each pixel. Conventional liquid crystal display devices for displaying color images have micro color filters corresponding to adjacent three pixels and penetrating red, green, and blue lights by the additive process.
However, in such a conventional liquid crystal display device a large amount of light absorption in the polarizing plate and the micro color filters causes the transmissivity in the entire liquid crystal display device to be about 10% or less, making it difficult to provide bright display images. In particular, in a reflective type liquid crystal display device which utilizes external light, the display is likely to be so dark as to make the colors unrecognizable.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications No. 61-238024 and No. 3-238424 show liquid crystal display devices which display bright color images even when they are used as reflective type because of a guest host mode for controlling the absorption and penetration of light for each color by using dichroic dyes. These liquid crystal display devices comprise a plurality of stacked panels each having a liquid crystal layer containing a dichroic dye different from each other. To be more specific, the three liquid crystal panels each comprise liquid crystal containing dichroic dyes of cyan, magenta, or yellow and sealed into between a pair of glass substrates. When all the panels absorb light, images are displayed in black; when all the panels penetrate light, images are displayed in white; and when one or two panels absorb light, images are displayed in colors. Not having a color filter or a polarizing plate for absorbing light, the display device with the guest host mode provides bright and clear color display and is suitable for a reflective type liquid crystal display device.
However, the liquid crystal display device comprising a plurality of stacked panels each having a pair of glass substrates has the following drawback. When the pixels are small, the thickness of the glass substrates composing each panel becomes relatively large as compared with the size of the pixels, and as a result, the parallax becomes so influential as to cause unevenness in color when display images are seen in a diagonal direction.
In order to solve the unevenness in color due to the parallax, a so-called polymer diffusion type liquid crystal display device has been proposed as in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 6-337643. FIG. 79 shows the polymer diffusion type liquid crystal display device, which comprises a substrate 1291 and liquid crystal layers 1295-1297 stacked thereonto by solidifying a resist material or polymeric material 1298 in which a guest host liquid crystal 1299 is dispersedly held. The display device further comprises driving electrodes 1292-1294 which correspond to the liquid crystal layers 1295-1297, respectively and are connected with corresponding driving elements formed on the substrate 1291. Such a structure requiring no glass substrate between adjacent ones of the liquid crystal layers 1295-1297 realizes a liquid crystal display device with a guest host mode which is freed of unevenness in color resulting from parallax.
However, in the polymer diffusion type liquid crystal display device, the guest host liquid crystal 1299 is dispersedly held in the resist material or polymeric material 1298, so that the resist material or polymeric material 1298 makes up a large proportion of the liquid crystal layers 1295-1297 (the guest host liquid crystal 1299 makes up a small proportion of the liquid crystal layers 1295-1297). This causes a problem that a substantial open area ratio becomes small, making it difficult to have a high contrast ratio.
Prior to the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a liquid crystal display device in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 9-127057 which is shown in FIG. 80. The liquid crystal display device comprises a substrate 1101, film-like sealing plates 1113-1115 stacked on the substrate 1101 while being supported by supporting members (spacers) 1108-1110, and liquid crystals 1125-1127 sealed into between the substrate 1101 and the sealing plate 1113, between the sealing plates 1113-1114, and between the sealing plates 1114-1115, respectively. The use of the film-like sealing plates 1113-1115 supported by the supporting members 1108-1110 solves the unevenness in color due to parallax which is caused when glass substrates are used. Furthermore, the polymeric material which is used to hold liquid crystal in the above-mentioned polymer diffusion type liquid crystal display device is not required, so that the liquid crystal makes up a large proportion of the liquid crystal layers 1125-1127 disposed between adjacent ones of the sealing plates 1113-1115. This makes it possible to increase a substantial open area ratio, thereby increasing the contrast ratio.
The supporting members 1108-1110 can be formed by applying a photosensitive resin onto each of the substrate 1101 and the sealing plates 1113 and 1114 and polymerizing and hardening parts of the photosensitive resin by mask exposure, where the supporting members 1108-1110 are formed, and then eliminating the remaining part of the photosensitive resin by development.
However, in the liquid crystal display device comprising the stacked film-like sealing plates 1113-1115, each of the supporting members 1108-1110 must be formed exactly in the same position as each other in order to securely support the sealing plates 1113-1115. For example, when the supporting members 1108 are formed in different positions from the supporting members 1109 as shown in FIG. 81(a) due to low precision in positioning, these sealing plates are deformed as shown in FIG. 81(b) by the pressure of bonding the sealing plate 1114 to the substrate 1101. When the positional deviation between the supporting members 1108 and 1109 is large, the supporting member 1109 of a second display layer 1122 encroaches on a first display layer 1117 as shown in FIG. 81(c) so as to destroy the first and second display layers 1117 and 1118. In order to avoid this problem, the formation of the supporting members 1108-1110 by mask exposure requires mask alignment of high precision.
Since the supporting members 1108 and 1109 are in the region where the light transmissivity is not controlled, it is preferable to make the area for the supporting members 1108-1110 in pixels as small as possible in order to have a larger open area ratio. This requires higher precision in mask alignment. To be more specific, in the case where the supporting members 1109 are square pillars of 7 m 7 m, the positional deviation of 3 m or more between the supporting members 1108 and 1109 damages the first display layer 1117 and other components as described above. Therefore, mask alignment must be performed so as to make the positional deviation less than 3 m.
As a result, the device has a problem that the provision of a precision masking process leads to an increase in the production cost.
2. Second Prior Art
The inventors of the present invention previously filed Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 9-127057, which is about a liquid crystal display device successfully overcoming the problem of the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 79. The invention according to the application is the foundation of the present invention and comprises a liquid crystal layer filled with liquid crystal and disposed between a substrate and a sealing film, and supporting members for supporting the sealing film. The liquid crystal display device makes it possible that liquid crystal makes up a larger proportion of the liquid crystal layer and the effective open area ratio is increased as compared with conventional devices, so as to improve the contrast ratio.
Although the invention of the application (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 9-127057) has overcome the problems of the conventional device shown in FIG. 79, it has new problems described below. In order to solve the new problems, the inventors of the present invention have achieved the present invention after conducting research and development based on the invention of the application (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 9-127057). Thus, the present invention has overcome the problems of the conventional device shown in FIG. 79 and further solved the new problems of the invention on which the present invention is based.
The structure and problems of the invention on which the present invention is based will be described. In the invention, the sealing film is formed onto the supporting members by either method (1) or method (2).
(1) The sealing film is formed on the surface of a plate-like member and transferred onto the supporting members formed on the substrate. After this, the plate-like member is removed.
(2) A solid film having volatility is formed onto the substrate having the supporting members thereon, and the sealing film is stacked onto the solid film. After this, the solid film is vaporized so as to form a gap between the substrate and the sealing film.
In method (1), when the removal of the sealing film is not smooth, the transfer becomes unsuccessful, which leads to a decrease in the yield. The cause of this is that when the adhesion between the supporting members and the transferred film is locally small as compared with the force to remove the transferred film from the plate-like member, the sealing film cannot be successfully transferred. In a pixel part, it is preferable to make the area for the supporting members as small as possible in order to increase the open area ratio; however, when the area for the supporting members is small, the bonding area between the supporting members and the transferred film also becomes small, so that the small bonding area is exclusively subjected to a pressure for removing the film, which makes both the transfer and the removal unsuccessful.
In method (2), when the solid film is formed on the substrate having the supporting members thereon, the solid film sometimes thinly covers the supporting members, thereby blocking the bonding between the supporting members and the sealing film and making the sealing film unstable. This leads to a decrease in the yield.
In these two cases, increasing the area for the supporting members in the pixel plane may facilitate the bonding between the supporting members and the sealing film; however, it is accompanied by a decreases in the open area ratio, and as a result, the brightness and contrast ratio of the liquid crystal display device is lowered so as to deteriorate the display quality. Therefore, the area for the supporting members in pixels is preferably 10% or less of the pixel area. In that case, however, the sealing film bonds only to the small area on the supporting members, leaving the remaining part unstable, so that insufficient bonding between the supporting members and the sealing film may lead to a decrease in a yield.
The process of forming a gap between the substrate and the sealing film by bonding the sealing film to the supporting members arranged on the substrate involves a difficult bonding of the sealing film to the limited area on the supporting members.
In view of the problems hereinbefore, the inventors of the present invention have found that the problems of the invention on which the present invention is based can be solved by using a resin film as the sealing film and bonding the resin film directly to the supporting members.
One method of bonding the resin film to the substrate is heat sealing. In heat sealing, the substrate and the resin film stacked thereonto is passed between a pair of rollers of a so-called laminator. The thermoplastic resin film is bonded to the substrate because at least one of the rollers is heated. This is an effective way to bond the resin film to the substrate without any gap therebetween. When the resin film is bonded to the supporting members as the sealing film by this method, either the resin film or the supporting members must be thermoplastic. However, when the rollers are heated to a temperature at which the resin film exerts the thermoplastic characteristics, the resin film is softened and deformed along the shape of the substrate and the supporting members, failing to be bonded exclusively on the supporting members. On the other hand, when the rollers are heated to a temperature at which the supporting members exert the thermoplastic characteristics, the supporting members are softened and crushed by the laminator. When either the resin film or the supporting members are made thermoplastic like this, a gap between the resin film and the substrate for sealing liquid crystal thereinto cannot be formed or becomes extremely narrow.
3. Third Prior Art
Liquid crystal display devices are widely used as portable information terminal displays because of their being thin and light in weight. Since a liquid crystal panel itself is a light-receptive device (a non light-emitting device), liquid crystal display devices with a liquid crystal panel are generally classified into reflective type liquid crystal display devices and permeable type liquid crystal display devices. The reflective type liquid crystal display devices are provided with a reflective plate on the back surface of the liquid crystal panel so as to reflect external light, whereas the permeable type liquid crystal display devices are provided with a back light on the back surface of the liquid crystal panel so as to project the light from the back light.
As well known, liquid crystal can be driven with a low voltage of several volts, and the reflective type liquid crystal display devices, which conduct image display by using external light instead of a back light consume extremely low electric power.
When images are displayed in color on a normal reflective type liquid crystal panel, micro color filters of red, green, and blue are provided on three adjacent pixels so as to perform the additive process. However, the color filters have a low light permittivity and requires a polarizing plate, and as a result, a reflective type liquid crystal display device has a drawback of being incapable of displaying images in bright colors.
In order to realize bright color display without using a polarizing plate or color filters, the inventors of the present invention proposed reflective type color liquid crystal display devices including the one disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 6-286324. These reflective type color liquid crystal display devices comprise three guest host liquid crystal layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow based on the principle of a so-called subtractive process.
The reflective type color liquid crystal display devices will be described as follows.
As shown in FIG. 83 a reflective type color liquid crystal display device comprises three liquid crystal layers 1303-1305 filled with guest host liquid crystals of cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively, and disposed between a bottom substrate 1301 and a top substrate 1302.
Thin film transistors (hereinafter referred to as TFT devices) 1306-1308 and a first pixel electrode 1309 which also serves as a reflective film are formed on the bottom substrate 1301. A first photosensitive polyimide 1310 and a first insulator film 1311 supported by the first photosensitive polyimide 1310 are formed further thereon. A second pixel electrode 1312 and a second photosensitive polyimide 1314 are formed on the first insulator film 1311. The second pixel electrode 1312 is connected with the TFT device 1307 via an opening portion 1313.
A third insulator film 1315 is further provided on the second photosensitive polyimide 1314 and supported thereby. A third pixel electrode 1316 and a third photosensitive polyimide 1317 are provided on the third insulator film 1315. The third pixel electrode 1316 is connected with the TFT device 1308 via an opening portion 1318. A common electrode 1319 is provided on the third photosensitive polyimide 1317. The first liquid crystal layer 1303 is supplied with a voltage by the first and second pixel electrodes 1309 and 1312, the second liquid crystal layer 1304 is supplied with a voltage by the second and third pixel electrodes 1312 and 1316, and the third liquid crystal layer 1305 is supplied with a voltage by the third pixel electrode 1316 and the common electrode 1319.
However, the reflective type color liquid crystal display device leaves room for improvement concerning the following. In general, the yield is likely to decrease along with the procession of the process of stacking the liquid crystal sequentially on the TFT array substrate. When there is a detect found in the liquid crystal layers, the expensive TFT array substrate must be abandoned together with these layers, so that the cost is increased.
In the case where simple matrix liquid crystal such as TN (Twisted Nematic) or STN (Super Twisted Nematic) is used, the formation pattern of the pixel electrodes provided on the substrate is different depending to the type of device, so that an etching process must be changed depending on the formation pattern of the pixel electrodes. As a result, the formation process of the pixel electrodes is complicated and the production cost of the liquid crystal panels is boosted, thereby preventing the reduction of the production cost. Especially in the case of plastic liquid crystal panels, the plastic substrate itself is more expensive and inferior in heat resistance to a glass substrate, which makes it difficult to form and process transparent electrodes, thereby further increasing the cost.
In view of the current state of the art, the present invention has an object of providing a liquid crystal display device whose production cost is reduced by not requiring a mask alignment process in forming supporting members, and whose contrast ratio is increased by reducing the area for the supporting members, and further providing a method for fabricating the liquid crystal display device.
The present invention has another object of providing a liquid crystal display device which can be used as a reflective type liquid crystal display device for its bright display and a high contrast ratio, suffers no unevenness in color resulting from parallax, and has an improved fabrication yield, and further providing a method for fabricating the liquid crystal display device.
The present invention has further another object of providing a liquid crystal display device which has a simplified contact hole formation process and secures the connection between the electrodes and the conductive members.
The present invention has further another object of providing a liquid crystal display device which prevents or reduces the occurrence of wrinkles of the resin films when the electrodes are formed thereon by spattering.
The present invention has further another object of providing a liquid crystal display device which offers an improved yield and a reduced fabrication cost, and further providing a method for fabricating the liquid crystal display device.
In order to achieve the objects, the liquid crystal display device of a first aspect comprises: a substrate having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode on a surface of the substrate; a resin film being disposed above the substrate and having a common electrode on a surface of the resin film; a plurality of supporting members each being columnar and standing on the substrate so as to support the resin film; an adhesive layer being disposed between the resin film and the plurality of supporting members so as to bond the resin film to the plurality of supporting members, the adhesive layer being made of a thermoplastic material and exerting thermoplastic characteristics so as to bond the resin film to the plurality of supporting members; and a liquid crystal layer being composed of liquid crystal and being disposed between the substrate and the resin film.
Since the liquid crystal layer is formed by making a gap between the substrate and the resin film and then sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the liquid crystal makes up a large proportion of the liquid crystal display device. As a result, the substantial open area ratio is increased, thereby realizing a high contrast ratio and bright display.
Since the resin film is bonded to the supporting members by making the adhesive layer exert thermoplastic characteristics, it is prevented that the gap for sealing the liquid crystal thereinto is narrowed by the deformation of the resin film along the supporting members, so that the gap has a fixed distance between the substrate and the resin film. Because the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is thus fixed, the display performance is improved.
The liquid crystal display device of a second aspect comprises:
a substrate being transparent and having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode on a surface of the substrate; a plurality of resin films being stacked above the substrate, an uppermost resin film of the plurality of resin films having a common electrode on a surface thereof, and remaining ones of the plurality of resin films each having a pixel electrode on a surface thereof; a plurality of liquid crystal layers each being formed by arranging a plurality of supporting members each being columnar in each gap between the substrate and a lowermost resin film of the plurality of resin films and between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films, and by sealing liquid crystal into the each gap; the substrate having more driving elements on the surface thereof, the more driving elements being electrically connected to a corresponding one of the pixel electrodes formed on the remaining ones of the plurality of resin films via cubic interconnection provided in relation to each of the pixel electrodes formed on the remaining ones of the plurality of resin films; a plurality of adhesive layers each being disposed between each of the plurality of supporting members and each of the plurality of resin films, the plurality of adhesive layers being made of a thermoplastic material and exerting thermoplastic characteristics so as to bond each of the plurality of resin films to each of the plurality of supporting members; and the supporting members between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films being arranged substantially in same positions as the supporting members between the substrate and the lowermost resin film with respect to a plane parallel to the substrate.
The liquid crystal display device has a multi-layered structure comprising a plurality of resin films which have the same function as the resin film of the first aspect. Since the supporting members formed between adjacent resin films are arranged in the same position as those formed between the substrate and the lowermost resin film with respect to the plane parallel to the substrate, these supporting members are arranged in straight lines in the direction vertical to the substrate. As a result, the support of each resin film is secured, which prevents the positional deviation between the supporting members formed on a layer and those on another layer, which would cause the deformation of the supporting members or the destroy of the liquid crystal layers.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the plurality of resin films can be made of either a material having no thermoplasticity or a material having thermoplasticity and exerting thermoplastic characteristics at a higher temperature than the plurality of adhesive layers; and the plurality of supporting members can be made of either a material having no thermoplasticity, a material having thermoplasticity and exerting thermoplastic characteristics at a higher temperature than the plurality of adhesive layers, or a material being hardened before the plurality of resin films are bonded to the plurality of supporting members.
A combination of these resin films and the substrate makes it possible to bond these resin films to the substrate without any of them being deformed.
In the liquid crystal display device of the second aspect, three liquid crystal layers and three resin films can be stacked, and the liquid crystals composing the three liquid crystal layers can be guest host liquid crystals each containing a dichroic dye, each dichroic dye having a different color from remaining dichroic dyes.
The above structure realizes a liquid crystal display device with full-color display.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the substrate can be a transparent substrate; and the plurality of supporting members and the plurality of adhesive layers can be a positive type photo resist formed by disposing a light shielding film over spots on the substrate where the plurality of supporting members are arranged and by conducting photolithography using the light shielding film as a photo mask.
The high precision in positioning the supporting members realizes a decrease in the area for the supporting members and an increase in the contrast ratio.
In the multi-layered structure, the positional deviation between the supporting members on each layer is minimized.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the substrate can be a transparent substrate; and the plurality of supporting members and the plurality of adhesive layers can be a negative type photo resist formed by disposing a light shielding film on the substrate excluding spots where the plurality of supporting members are arranged and by conducting photolithography using the light shielding film as a photo mask.
In the above structure, too, the precision in positioning the supporting members is improved.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the distance between adjacent ones of the plurality of supporting members arranged in a pixel region, of the plurality of supporting members can be in a range of 15 to 100 m.
The distance between adjacent supporting members is limited because of the following reason. When the distance is too large, it makes each resin film sag between adjacent supporting members and fails to maintain the gaps, thereby causing unevenness in color or a decrease in the contrast ratio. When the distance is too small, on the other hand, the open area ratio is decreased by too many supporting members.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the thickness of the plurality of resin films can be in a range of 0.5 to 10 m.
The thickness of the resin films is limited because of the following reason. When the average thickness of the resin films is smaller than 0.5 m, the resin films are likely to wrinkle, whereas when it is larger than 10 m, the voltage drop in the resin films becomes too large as compared with the voltage supplied to the liquid crystal layers.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the resistivity of the plurality of resin films can be 1010xc2x7cm or below.
The resistivity of each resin film is limited because when it is larger than 1010 cm, the voltage drop in each resin film becomes too large as compared with the voltage supplied to the liquid crystal layers.
In the liquid crystal display device of the second aspect and a fifth aspect, the plurality of resin films can have optical anisotropy and are so arranged as to make all slow axes of the plurality of resin films be in a same direction.
The above structure reduces the light attenuation due to the optical anisotropy of the resin films, thereby realizing bright display.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the plurality of resin films can have breathability, and the common electrode can be made of a metallic material having reflection characteristics and also serves as a shading film for preventing oxygen or moisture in open air from permeating through the uppermost resin film.
The structure prevents a decrease in display performance resulting from the permeation of oxygen or water in open air into the liquid crystal layers when the resin films have breathability.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the plurality of resin films can have breathability, and a shading film can be provided on the common electrode so as to prevent oxygen or moisture in open air from permeating through the uppermost resin film.
The structure also prevents a decrease in display performance resulting from the permeation of oxygen or water in open air into the liquid crystal layers when the resin films have breathability.
In the liquid crystal display device of a twentieth and twenty-first aspect, the common electrode can be a transparent electrode, and the shading film can be made of a metallic material having reflection characteristics and also serve as a reflective plate.
The structure does not require a separate reflective plate and prevents a decrease in display performance resulting from the permeation of oxygen and the other substances.
In the liquid crystal display device of the first and second aspects, the common electrode can be a transparent electrode; a resin layer can be formed on the common electrode, the resin layer being transparent and having a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on a surface thereof; and a reflective film having a shape of a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions can be formed correspondingly on the multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on the surface of the resin layer.
The structure makes the reflective film have diffusive light reflection characteristics, thereby preventing a decrease in display performance due to the reflection of the light source, as compared with a reflective film having specular reflection.
The liquid crystal display device of a twenty-sixth aspect comprises: a substrate having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode on a surface of the substrate; a resin film being disposed above the substrate; a plurality of supporting members each being columnar and standing on the substrate so as to support the resin film; an adhesive layer being disposed between the resin film and the plurality of supporting members so as to bond the resin film to the plurality of supporting members, the adhesive layer being made of a thermoplastic material and exerting thermoplastic characteristics so as to bond the resin film to the plurality of supporting members; a liquid crystal layer being composed of liquid crystal and being disposed between the substrate and the resin film; a resin layer being formed on a surface of the resin film, the resin layer being transparent and having a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on a surface thereof; and a reflective film having a shape of a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions and being formed correspondingly on the multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on the surface of the resin layer, the reflective film also serving as a common electrode.
In addition to the effects of preventing a decrease in display performance, no separate reflective film is required, which reduces the thickness of the liquid crystal display device and the number of components.
The liquid crystal display device of a twenty-seventh aspect comprises: a substrate having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode on a surface of the substrate; a plurality of resin films being stacked above the substrate, the plurality of resin films each having a pixel electrode on a surface thereof except an uppermost resin film of the plurality of resin films; a plurality of liquid crystal layers each being formed by arranging a plurality of supporting members each being columnar in each gap between the substrate and a lowermost resin film of the plurality of resin films and between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films, and by sealing liquid crystal into the each gap; the substrate having more driving elements on the surface thereof, the more driving elements being electrically connected to a corresponding one of the pixel electrodes formed on the plurality of resin films except the uppermost resin film via cubic interconnection provided in relation to each of the pixel electrodes formed on the plurality of resin films except the uppermost resin film; a plurality of adhesive layers each being disposed between each of the plurality of supporting members and each of the plurality of resin films, the plurality of adhesive layers being made of a thermoplastic material and exerting thermoplastic characteristics so as to bond each of the plurality of resin films to each of the plurality of supporting members; the supporting members between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films being arranged substantially in same positions as the supporting members between the substrate and the lowermost resin film with respect to a plane parallel to the substrate; a resin layer being formed on a surface of the uppermost resin film, the resin layer being transparent and having a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on a surface thereof; and a reflective film having a shape of a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions and being formed correspondingly on the multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions on the surface of the resin layer, the reflective film also serving as a common electrode.
In addition to the effects of preventing a decrease in display performance, no separate reflective film is required, which reduces the thickness of the liquid crystal display device and the number of components.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a twenty-eighth aspect comprises the steps of: arranging a plurality of supporting members each being columnar onto a substrate, the substrate being transparent and having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected with the pixel electrode thereon; forming an adhesive layer onto the plurality of supporting members; bonding a resin film to the plurality of supporting members by disposing the resin film onto the adhesive layer formed on the plurality of supporting members and applying heat to the resin film while maintaining a gap between the substrate and the resin film; forming a common electrode onto a surface of the resin film; and sealing liquid crystal into the gap between the substrate and the resin film.
The structure enables the extremely thin resin film to be easily bonded onto the supporting members. Since the liquid crystal layer is formed between the substrate and the resin film by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the liquid crystal makes up a larger proportion of the liquid crystal display device. As a result, the substantial open area ratio is increased so as to realize a high contrast ratio and bright display.
Furthermore, a decrease in the fabrication yield which might be caused in the invention on which the present invention is based can be prevented by the use of the resin film as a sealing film and the bonding of the resin film to the supporting members with the adhesive layer therebetween.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a twenty-ninth aspect comprises the steps of: arranging a plurality of first supporting members on a substrate, the substrate being transparent and having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode thereon; forming a first adhesive layer onto the plurality first of supporting members; bonding a first resin film to the plurality of first supporting members by disposing the first resin film onto the first adhesive layer formed on the plurality of first supporting members and applying heat to the first resin film while maintaining a gap between the substrate and the first resin film; forming a first opening portion in the first resin film; forming a first pixel electrode on the first resin film and electrically connecting the first pixel electrode to a corresponding driving element on the substrate via the first opening portion; stacking one other resin film or more resin films by first stacking a second resin film while maintaining a gap between the first resin film and the second resin film by arranging a plurality of second supporting members on the first resin film bonded to the plurality of first supporting members; forming a second adhesive layer onto the plurality of second supporting members; bonding the second resin film to the plurality of second supporting members; forming a second opening portion in the second resin film; and forming a second pixel electrode on the second resin film and electrically connecting the second pixel electrode to a corresponding driving element formed on the substrate via the second opening portion; forming a plurality of uppermost supporting members on a resin film last stacked in a previous stacking step and disposing an uppermost adhesive layer onto the plurality of uppermost supporting members so as to bond an uppermost resin film to the plurality of uppermost supporting members; forming a common electrode on a surface of the uppermost resin film; and sealing liquid crystal into the gap between the substrate and the first resin film and the gap between adjacent resin films.
According to the structure, a liquid crystal display device having a multi-layered structure which has the same function as the display device of the twenty-eighth aspect is fabricated.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-ninth aspect, each opening portion can be formed by reactive ion etching.
As a result, it is secured to form each opening portion in the resin films.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth aspects, the step of bonding the first resin to the plurality of first supporting members and the step of stacking one other resin film or more resin films each can comprise the sub step of pressing each resin film with a heated roller.
The use of the heated roller secures the bonding of the reins films onto the supporting members within a short time.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a thirty-second aspect, each adhesive layer can be made of a material which exerts thermoplastic characteristics at a lower temperature than each resin film exerting thermoplastic characteristics, and the heated roller can heat the each resin film to a temperature lower than the each resin film exerting thermoplastic characteristics and higher than the each adhesive layer exerting thermoplastic characteristics.
According to the structure, the heated roller plasticizes each adhesive layer and each resin film is bonded to the supporting members via the adhesive layer. Since the supporting members and the resin films do not plasticize, the deformation of the resin films along the supporting members and the destroy of the supporting members are prevented. As a result, the resin films are easily bonded onto the supporting members while the gaps corresponding to the height of the supporting members are maintained.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the thirty-second aspect, at least a surface of the heated roller can be made of a rigid material.
According to the structure, the resin films are smoothly bonded onto the supporting members without being encroached by the supporting members. As a result, each liquid crystal layer has even thickness, so that unevenness and defects in display are prevented.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth aspect, the step of arranging the plurality of supporting members onto the substrate can comprise: forming a light shielding film over spots on a surface of the substrate where the plurality of supporting members are arranged; applying a first positive type resist onto the surface of the substrate; exposing the first positive type resist from a rear surface of the substrate using the light shielding film as a photo mask; and developing the first positive type resist with a first developing solution and hardening the first positive type resist; and the step of forming the adhesive layer onto the plurality of supporting members comprises: applying a second positive type resist onto the surface of the substrate having the plurality of supporting members thereon; exposing the second positive type resist from the rear surface of the substrate using the light shielding film as the photo mask; and developing the second positive type resist with a second developing solution.
Since the structure requires no mask alignment between the adhesive layer and the supporting members, the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device is simplified.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth aspects, the step of forming an adhesive layer and the step of bonding the first resin film to the plurality of first supporting members comprise: preparing the first resin film applied with an adhesive layer; and arranging the first resin film onto the plurality of first supporting members with heating so that the surface applied with the adhesive layer faces the plurality of first supporting members; and the step of stacking one other resin film or more resin films comprises: preparing the second resin film applied with an other adhesive layer; and arranging the second resin film onto the plurality of second supporting members with heating so that the surface applied with the other adhesive layer faces the plurality of second supporting members.
Since the structure does not require the step of forming the adhesive layer onto the supporting members, the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device is simplified.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth aspects, in the step of arranging the plurality of supporting members on the substrate, supporting members arranged in a pixel region can be formed to have more width than height.
The structure prevents the supporting members from being crushed by the roller when the supporting members with the resin film stacked thereon passes through the laminator. As a result, the fabrication yield is increased.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth aspects, the thickness of each resin film can be in a range of 0.5 to 10 m.
The thickness of each resin film is limited because of the following reason. When the average thickness of the resin films is smaller than 0.5 m, the resin films are likely to wrinkle, whereas when it is larger than 10 m, the voltage drop in the resin films becomes too large as compared with the voltage supplied to the liquid crystal layers.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth aspects, the main component of each resin film can be a polyester resin.
The resin films have enough strength not to be broken during the fabrication of the liquid crystal display device, so that the fabrication yield is increased. Since the polyester resin is transparent having a small light attenuation in a visible wavelength range, it provides bright display as a liquid crystal display device.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-eighth aspect, in the step of bonding the resin film to the plurality of supporting members, a venthole can be formed in order to ventilate the gap between the substrate and the resin film.
According to the structure, in the process involving heating or vacuum evacuation, the ventilation through the venthole prevents the resin film from being broken by the expansion of the air in the gap between the substrate and the resin film. As a result, a decrease in the yield is restricted.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the twenty-ninth aspect, in the step of bonding the first resin film to the plurality of first supporting members, a first venthole can be formed in order to ventilate the gap between the substrate and the first resin film; and in the step of stacking one other resin film or more resin films, a second venthole can be formed in order to ventilate the gap between the first resin film and the second resin film.
According to the structure, in the process involving heating or vacuum evacuation, the ventilation through the ventholes prevents the resin films from being broken by the expansion of the air in the gaps between the substrate and the lowermost resin film and between adjacent resin films. As a result, a decrease in the yield is restricted.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a forty-sixth aspect, the venthole can be formed by leaving a part of the substrate without being bonded to the resin film, the part being in a vicinity of a display portion on the substrate.
The structure facilitates the formation of the venthole, thereby simplifying the fabrication processes of the liquid crystal display device.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a forty-seventh aspect, the second venthole can be formed by leaving a part of the first resin film without being bonded to the second resin film, the part being in a vicinity of a display portion on the substrate.
The structure facilitates the formation of the venthole, thereby simplifying the fabrication processes of the liquid crystal display device.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a forty-ninth aspect, the internal wall of the venthole can be subjected to a treatment for decreasing a surface tension.
When the process of heating or vacuum evacuating and the process of soaking in the solution are alternately performed, the opening and closing of the ventholes do not need to be repeated, which simplifies the fabrication processes of the liquid crystal display device.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the forty-sixth aspect, the venthole can be formed by bonding the resin film to the substrate in a vicinity of a display portion on the substrate so as to once seal the gap, and forming a through hole in a region outside a display portion of the resin film.
The structure facilitates the formation of the venthole, thereby simplifying the fabrication processes of the liquid crystal display device.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the forty-seventh aspect, the first venthole and the second venthole can be formed by bonding the first resin film to the substrate and bonding the second resin film to the first resin film in a vicinity of a display portion on the substrate so as to once seal the gap between the substrate and the first resin film and the gap between the first resin film and the second resin film, and forming a through hole in a region outside a display portion of all resin films stacked.
The structure facilitates the formation of the ventholes, thereby simplifying the fabrication processes of the liquid crystal display device.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the forty-sixth and forty-seventh aspects further comprises the step of closing the ventholes.
In the process involving soaking in the solution, the solution is prevented from permeating through the ventholes, which increases the yield.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a fifty-sixth aspect comprises the steps of: arranging a plurality of supporting members each being columnar onto a substrate, the substrate being transparent and having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected with the pixel electrode thereon; forming an adhesive layer onto the plurality of supporting members; bonding a resin film to the plurality of supporting members by disposing the resin film onto the adhesive layer formed on the plurality of supporting members and applying heat to the resin film while maintaining a gap between the substrate and the resin film; forming a resin layer whose surface has a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions by applying a photo resist onto a surface of the resin film, subjecting the surface of the resin film to mask exposure, developing, and baking; forming a reflective film also serving as a common electrode onto the surface of the resin layer; and sealing liquid crystal into the gap between the substrate and the resin film.
The structure enables the reflective film having diffusion to be easily formed on the resin layer.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a fifty-seventh aspect comprises the steps of: arranging a plurality of first supporting members each being columnar on a substrate, the substrate being transparent and having a pixel electrode and a driving element connected to the pixel electrode thereon; forming a first adhesive layer onto the plurality of first supporting members; bonding a first resin film to the plurality of first supporting members by disposing the first resin film onto the first adhesive layer formed on the plurality of first supporting members and applying heat to the first resin film while maintaining a gap between the substrate and the first resin film; forming a first opening portion in the first resin film; forming a first pixel electrode on the first resin film and electrically connecting the first pixel electrode to a corresponding driving element on the substrate via the first opening portion; stacking one other resin film or more resin films by first stacking a second resin film while maintaining a gap between the first resin film and the second resin film by arranging a plurality of second supporting members on the first resin film bonded to the plurality of first supporting members; forming a second adhesive layer onto the plurality of second supporting members; bonding the second resin film to the plurality of second supporting members; forming a second opening portion in the second resin film; and forming a second pixel electrode on the second resin film and electrically connecting the second pixel electrode to a corresponding driving element formed on the substrate via the second opening portion; forming a plurality of uppermost supporting members on a resin film last stacked in a previous stacking step and disposing an uppermost adhesive layer onto the plurality of uppermost supporting members so as to bond an uppermost resin film to the plurality of uppermost supporting members; forming a resin layer whose surface has a multiplicity of fine convex and concave portions by applying a photo resist onto a surface of the uppermost resin film, subjecting the surface of the uppermost resin film to mask exposure, developing, and baking; forming a reflective film also serving as a common electrode onto the surface of the resin layer; and sealing liquid crystal into the gap between the substrate and the first resin film and the gap between adjacent resin films.
The structure enables the reflective film having diffusion to be easily formed above the liquid crystal layer.
The liquid crystal display device of a fifty-eighth aspect comprises:
a plurality of resin films being stacked, the plurality of resin films including at least two resin films having electrodes thereon; liquid crystal layers each arranged between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films stacked; a contact hole being formed so as to penetrate all of the plurality of resin films; at least part of each of predetermined electrodes of the electrodes being projected and exposed inside the contact hole; and the part of each of predetermined electrodes being in contact with a conductive member formed on an internal surface of the contact hole so as to connect the predetermined electrodes electrically.
Since the contact hole is formed so as to penetrate all the resin films stacked, any electrodes on the resin films can be connected with each other. The conductive member and the electrodes have a large contact area because the conductive member is in contact with the exposed parts of the electrodes. Consequently, the connection between the conductive member and the electrodes is secured, making it possible to realize a liquid crystal display device with reliable electric connection.
In the liquid crystal display device of the fifty-eighth aspect, the plurality of resin films can at least include a first resin film and a second resin film arranged above the first resin film; the contact hole can have a larger size in the second resin film than in the first resin film; and the electrode on the first resin film can be projected and exposed inside the contact hole.
The internal surface of the contact hole is formed to have some steps and the electrode on the first resin film has a surface with steps. As a result, the connection between the electrode and the conductive member is secured.
The liquid crystal display device of a sixtieth aspect comprises a plurality of resin films being stacked and having electrodes thereon, and liquid crystal layers each being arranged between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films, wherein a plurality of contact holes being formed so as to penetrate all of the plurality of resin films; and predetermined electrodes of the electrodes being electrically connected via each conductive member formed on an internal surface of each of the plurality of contact holes.
Since some electrodes are connected in each contact hole, desired electrodes can be connected with each other. This structure is effective when complicated cubic interconnection is required.
In the liquid crystal display device of the sixtieth aspect, part of each of the predetermined electrodes can be exposed inside the plurality of contact holes so as to be connected with the each conductive member.
The conductive members and the electrodes have a large contact area because the conductive members are in contact with the exposed parts of the electrodes. Consequently, the connection between the conductive members and the electrodes is secured.
In the liquid crystal display device in accordance with a sixty-first aspect, the part of each of the predetermined electrodes can be projected and exposed inside the plurality of contact holes.
Since part of each electrode is projected and exposed inside the contact holes, the conductive members and the electrodes have a larger contact area. Consequently, the connection between the conductive members and the electrodes is secured.
The liquid crystal display device of a sixty-third aspect comprises:
a substrate at least having a first driving element and a second driving element thereon; at least a first resin film having a first electrode thereon and a second resin film having a second electrode thereon, the second resin film being stacked on the first resin film; and liquid crystal layers each arranged between the substrate and the first resin film and between the first resin film and the second resin film; at least a first contact hole and a second contact hole each penetrating at least the first resin film and the second resin film when the first resin film and the second resin film are stacked on the substrate; a first conductive member being formed on an internal surface of the first contact hole in order to electrically connect the first driving element and the first electrode; and a second conductive member being formed on an internal surface of the second contact hole in order to electrically connect the second driving element and the second electrode.
The electric connection between the driving elements and the electrodes makes it possible to control the voltage supply to the electrodes by the driving elements.
In the liquid crystal display device of the sixty-third aspect, part of each of the first electrode and the second electrode can be exposed inside the first contact hole and the second contact hole so as to be connected with the first conductive member and the second conductive member.
The structure secures the connection between the first and second conductive members and the first and second electrodes.
In the liquid crystal display device of a sixty-fourth aspect, the part of each of the first electrode and the second electrode can be projected and exposed inside the first contact hole and the second contact hole.
Since part of each of the first and second electrodes is projected and exposed inside the contact holes, the conductive members and these electrodes have a larger contact area. As a result, the connection between the conductive members and the first and second electrodes is secured.
In the liquid crystal display device of a sixty-fifth aspect, the first contact hole and the second contact hole can have a larger size in the second resin film than in the first resin film.
The internal surface of each contact hole is formed to have steps and the electrode on the first resin film has a surface with steps. As a result, the connection between the electrodes and the conductive members is secured.
The liquid crystal display device of a sixty-seventh aspect comprises:
a substrate having a pixel electrode and a pixel switching element connected to the pixel electrode thereon; a plurality of resin films being stacked on the substrate, an uppermost resin film of the plurality of resin films having a common electrode thereon and remaining ones of the plurality of resin films having pixel electrodes thereon; a plurality of liquid crystal layers each being arranged between the substrate and a lowermost resin film of the plurality of resin films and between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films; a plurality of driving elements being arranged on the substrate and a corresponding one of the pixel electrodes arranged on the remaining ones of the plurality of resin films; a plurality of cubic interconnection pads each being arranged between the substrate and the lowermost resin film and between adjacent ones of the plurality of resin films; a plurality of contact holes each penetrating all of the plurality of cubic interconnection pads and all of the plurality of resin films and corresponding to one of the pixel electrodes; and a plurality of conductive members each being formed on an internal surface of a corresponding one of the plurality of contact holes so as to electrically connect each of the plurality of driving elements to a corresponding one of the pixel electrodes.
The structure makes it possible to control the voltage supply to each pixel electrode by the driving elements on the substrate, thereby obtaining a liquid crystal display device having a multi-layered structure with resin films.
In the liquid crystal display device of the sixty-seventh aspect, part of each of the pixel electrodes can be exposed inside a corresponding one of the plurality of contact holes so as to be connected with a corresponding one of the plurality of conductive members.
The conductive members and the pixel electrodes have a large contact area because the conductive members are in contact with the exposed parts of the electrodes. Consequently, the connection between the conductive members and the electrodes is secured, making it possible to realize a liquid crystal display device with reliable electric connection.
In the liquid crystal display device of a sixty-eighth aspect, the part of each of the pixel electrodese can be projected and exposed inside the corresponding one of the plurality of contact holes.
Since part of each pixel electrode is projected and exposed inside a corresponding contact hole, the conductive members and the pixel electrodes have a larger contact area. As a result, the connection between the pixel electrode and the conductive members is secured.
In the liquid crystal display device of a sixty-ninth aspect, the plurality of contact holes can have a larger size in upper resin films than in lower resin films of the plurality of resin films.
The internal surface of each contact hole is formed to have steps and the electrodes on lower resin films each have a surface with steps. As a result, the connection between the electrodes and the conductive members is secured.
In the liquid crystal display device of the fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth, sixty-fifth and sixty-ninth aspects, the electrodes can be made of a material resistant to dry etching, and the contact holes can be formed by a dry etching treatment.
By the dry etching treatment, the electrodes are projected and exposed inside the contact holes.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a seventy-fifth aspect comprises the steps of: stacking a plurality of resin films having electrodes thereon; forming a plurality of contact holes each penetrating all of the plurality of resin films; and filling the plurality of contact holes with a conductive member so as to electrically connect predetermined ones of the electrodes each other via the conductive member.
The structure makes desired electrodes be connected with each other by performing the contact hole formation process only once, thereby simplifying the process as compared with the conventional methods.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a seventy-sixth aspect comprises the steps of: stacking a first resin film having a first electrode thereon and a second resin film having a second electrode thereon in that order onto a substrate having at least a first driving element and a second driving element;
forming a first contact hole and a second contact hole each penetrating at least the first resin film and the second resin film; and filling the first contact hole with a first conductive member and filling the second contact hole with a second conductive member so as to connect the first driving element and the first electrode via the first conductive member and to connect the second driving element and the second electrode via the second conductive member.
The structure makes desired electrodes be connected with the driving elements by performing the contact hole formation process only once, thereby simplifying the process as compared with the conventional methods.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a seventy-seventh aspect comprising a plurality of resin films being stacked and having electrodes made from a material resistant to dry etching thereon; and a contact hole penetrating the plurality of resin films so as to electrically connect predetermined electrodes of the electrodes, the method comprising the steps of: forming only the predetermined electrodes onto corresponding ones of the plurality of resin films, and removing part of each of the predetermined electrodes where the contact hole is formed in a manner that the part removed is larger in upper ones of the plurality of resin films; and forming the contact hole by dry etching.
The electrodes have resistance to dry etching and the resin films do not, so that only the resin films are removed by the dry etching. Only the predetermined electrodes in the region to form the contact hole are removed largely in upper electrodes. As a result, when the contact hole is formed, only the predetermined electrodes are projected and exposed inside the contact hole. Consequently, the connection between the predetermined electrodes and the conductive members is secured, which improves the reliability of the connection between the predetermined electrodes.
The liquid crystal display device of a seventy-eighth aspect comprises:
a resin film; a wrinkle reduction layer being formed on the resin film and having a shock resistance to spattering; and an electrode being made of an inorganic material and formed on the wrinkle reduction layer by spattering.
The structure makes it possible to prevent the resin film from wrinkling when the electrode made of an inorganic material such as ITO is formed thereon by spattering.
In the liquid crystal display device of the seventy-eighth aspect, the thickness of the resin film can be less than 10 m.
The thickness of the resin film is limited because of the following reason. When the thickness is smaller than 10 m, the resin film is likely to wrinkle unless the wrinkle reduction layer is provided because its shock resistance is too small.
In the liquid crystal display device of the seventy-eighth aspect, the wrinkle reduction layer can be made of either an organic resin containing silica particles or an acrylic resin.
The organic resin containing silica particles and the acrylic resin securely prevent the resin film from wrinkling because they have large shock resistance to spattering.
In the liquid crystal display device of the seventy-eighth aspect, the resin film can be arranged on a substrate with a spacer therebetween so as to keep a gap between the resin film and the substrate, the gap being filled with liquid crystal.
According to the structure, a liquid crystal display device with a wrinkle-free resin film is realized. As a result, the display characteristics are improved, with no unnecessary diffusion caused by a wrinkled resin film.
The liquid crystal display device of an eighty-second aspect comprises:
a substrate being made of a transparent material and having a reflective film thereon; a sealing plate being formed so as to face the reflective film formed on the substrate; a liquid crystal layer being disposed between the substrate and the sealing plate; an opening portion formed on the reflective film; and a supporting member supporting the sealing plate and being arranged in a position between the substrate and the sealing plate, the position corresponding to the opening portion of the reflective film, and the supporting member being formed by exposing a photosensitive resin via the opening portion.
The high precision in positioning the supporting member makes it possible to reduce the area for the supporting member, thereby increasing the contrast ratio.
In the liquid crystal display device of the eighty-second aspect, the photosensitive resin can be a negative type resist.
The supporting member is easily obtained by exposing the photosensitive resin through the opening portion.
In the liquid crystal display device of an eighty-third aspect, the liquid crystal layer can comprise a polymer and liquid crystal which is dispersedly held in the polymer.
This structure realizes a liquid crystal display device in which the sealing plate is securely fixed onto the supporting member by the polymer in the liquid crystal layer.
In the liquid crystal display device of the eighty-second aspect, the photosensitive resin can be a photosensitive polymer precursor contained in a mixture solution comprising liquid crystal for composing the liquid crystal layer and the photosensitive polymer precursor.
The liquid crystal layer is made from the liquid crystal which is left unconsumed for the formation of the supporting member by the exposure of the mixture solution, so that the obtained liquid crystal display device has a large substantial open area ratio and a high contrast ratio.
In the liquid crystal display device of the eighty-second aspect, a plurality of liquid crystal layers and a plurality of sealing plates can be arranged alternately on the substrate, and a plurality of supporting members for supporting the plurality of sealing plates can be each arranged in each position between adjacent ones of the plurality of sealing plates, the each position corresponding to the opening portion of the reflective film, the plurality of supporting members being formed by exposing the photosensitive resin via the opening portion.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
In the liquid crystal display device of an eighty-sixth aspect, three liquid crystal layers and three sealing plates can be arranged alternately, and the three liquid crystal layers each can have guest host liquid crystal containing liquid crystal and a dichroic dye having a color of cyan, magenta, or yellow, each dichroic dye having a different color from remaining dichroic dyes.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display full-color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of an eighty-eighth aspect comprises the steps of:
forming a reflective film having an opening portion onto a transparent substrate; forming a photosensitive resin layer onto the substrate having the reflective film thereon; exposing the photosensitive resin layer from the substrate side via the opening portion of the reflective film so as to be hardened; forming a supporting member by removing part of the photosensitive resin layer by developing, the part being prevented from being exposed due to shielding of the reflective film; bonding a sealing plate to the supporting member; and forming a liquid crystal layer between the substrate and the sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto.
The supporting member is securely formed in the position of the opening portion so as to increase its positional precision, so that the area for the supporting member can be reduced without damaging the liquid crystal layer by the positional deviation of the supporting member. As a result, a liquid crystal display device with a high contrast ratio is obtained. Furthermore, mask alignment becomes unnecessary because no mask is used, so that the fabrication cost is reduced.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the eighty-eighth aspect, the photosensitive resin layer can be made from a negative type resist.
Since the structure allows the supporting member to be made of a common material, it can be formed easily and at a lower cost.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the eighty-eighth aspect, the step of forming the liquid crystal layer can comprise the sub steps of: sealing a mixture solution into between the substrate and the sealing plate, the mixture solution containing liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and exposing the mixture solution from the sealing plate side so as to harden the polymer precursor contained in the mixture solution, thereby forming the liquid crystal layer comprising polymer and the liquid crystal dispersedly held in the polymer, and also fixing the sealing plate onto the substrate.
As a result, the sealing plate is easily and securely fixed to the substrate by using the polymer hardened by exposure.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the eighty-eighth aspect, the step of bonding the sealing plate to the supporting member can comprise the sub steps of: applying an adhesive agent onto at least one of the supporting member and the sealing plate; and fixing the sealing plate onto the substrate.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a ninety-first aspect, at least one of the sealing plate and the supporting member can be made of a material plasticized by at least one of heat and pressure; and the step of fixing the sealing plate onto the substrate can be conducted by applying at least one of heat and pressure while the sealing plate is being in close contact with the supporting member.
The sealing plate is easily and securely fixed to the substrate without using the mixture solution containing liquid crystal and the photosensitive polymer precursor. As a result, the area for the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer is increased in order to increase the substantial open area ratio, which realizes a liquid crystal display device having a higher contrast ratio.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the eighty-eighth aspect, at least one other liquid crystal layer can be formed by conducting the steps of: forming a second photosensitive resin layer onto the sealing plate; exposing the second photosensitive resin layer via the opening portion of the reflective film and the supporting member from the substrate side so as to be hardened; forming a second supporting member by removing part of the second photosensitive resin layer by developing, the part being prevented from being exposed by shielding of the reflective film; bonding a second sealing plate to the second supporting member; and forming a second liquid crystal layer between the sealing plate and the second sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto (a ninety-third aspect).
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a ninety-fourth aspect comprises the steps of: forming a reflective film having an opening portion onto a transparent substrate; arranging a supplemental supporting member in a predetermined region on the substrate, the predetermined region is outside the opening portion of the reflective film; bonding a sealing plate to the supplemental supporting member; sealing a mixture solution into between the substrate and the sealing plate, the mixture solution containing liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and forming a supporting member by exposing the mixture solution from the substrate side via the opening portion and precipitating the polymer precursor contained in the mixture solution in a position corresponding to the opening portion so as to harden the polymer precursor, and also making a liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal contained in the mixture solution left unused for formation of the supporting member.
The supporting member is securely formed in the position of the opening portion so as to increase its positional precision, so that the area for the supporting member can be reduced without damaging the liquid crystal layer by the positional deviation of the supporting member. Furthermore, the liquid crystal layer is made from the liquid crystal which is left unconsumed for the formation of the supporting member by the exposure of the mixture solution, so that the obtained liquid crystal display device has a large substantial open area ratio and a high contrast ratio. In addition, mask alignment becomes unnecessary because no mask is used, so that the fabrication cost is reduced.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the ninety-fourth aspect, the step of arranging the supplementary supporting member can comprise the sub steps of: forming a negative type resist layer onto the substrate having the reflective film thereon; exposing the negative type resist layer via a predetermined mask pattern from an opposite side of the substrate so as to be hardened; and removing part of the negative type resist layer by developing, the part being prevented form being exposed by shielding of the mask pattern.
Since the structure allows the supplemental supporting member to be made of a common material, it can be formed easily and at a lower cost.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the ninety-fourth aspect, at least one other liquid crystal layer can be formed by conducting the steps of: forming a second supplemental supporting member in a position corresponding to the supplemental supporting member formed on the sealing plate; bonding a second sealing plate onto the second supplemental supporting member; sealing a second mixture solution into between the sealing plate and the second sealing plate, the second mixture solution containing liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and forming a second supporting member by exposing the second mixture solution from the substrate side via the opening portion and the supporting member and precipitating the polymer precursor contained in the second mixture solution in a position corresponding to the opening portion so as to be hardened, and also making a second liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal contained in the second mixture solution left unused for formation of the second supporting member.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a ninety-seventh aspect comprises the steps of: forming a reflective film having an opening portion onto a substrate, the opening portion comprising a first opening portion and a second opening portion; forming a photosensitive resin layer onto the substrate having the reflective film thereon; covering the second opening portion with a first masking member from the substrate side, and exposing the photosensitive resin layer via the first opening portion from the substrate side so as to be hardened; forming a first-part supporting member of a supporting member by removing part of the photosensitive resin layer by developing, the part being prevented from being exposed by shielding of the reflective film and the first masking member; bonding a sealing plate to the first-part supporting member; sealing a mixture solution into between the substrate and the sealing plate, the mixture solution containing liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and forming a second-part supporting member of the supporting member by covering the first opening portion with a second masking member, exposing the mixture solution from the substrate side via the second opening portion, and precipitating the polymer precursor contained in the mixture solution in a position corresponding to the second opening portion so as to be hardened, and also making a liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal contained in the mixture solution left unused for formation of the second-part supporting member.
The first-part supporting member makes the gap between the substrate and the sealing plate have uniform thickness so as to keep the balance of the display colors of the liquid crystal display device. Furthermore, the liquid crystal layer is made from the liquid crystal which is left unconsumed for the formation of the supporting member by the exposure of the mixture solution, so that the obtained liquid crystal display device has a large substantial open area ratio and a high contrast ratio.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a ninety-seventh aspect, at least one other liquid crystal layer can be formed by conducting the steps of: forming a second photosensitive resin layer onto the sealing plate; covering the second opening portion with the first masking member from the substrate side, and exposing the second photosensitive resin layer via the first opening portion and the first-part supporting member from the substrate side so as to be hardened; forming an additional first-part supporting member by removing part of the second photosensitive resin layer by developing, the part being prevented form being exposed by shielding of the reflective film and the first masking member; bonding a second sealing plate to the additional first-part supporting member; sealing a second mixture solution into between the sealing plate and the second sealing plate, the second mixture solution containing a liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and forming an additional second-part supporting member by covering the first opening portion with the second masking member from the substrate side, exposing the second mixture solution from the substrate side via the second opening portion and the second-part supporting member, and precipitating a polymer precursor contained in the second mixture solution in a position corresponding to the second opening portion so as to be hardened, and also making a second liquid crystal layer from the liquid crystal contained in the second mixture solution left unused for formation of the additional second-part supporting member.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The liquid crystal display device of a ninety-ninth aspect comprises: a substrate made of a transparent material; a sealing plate arranged so as to face the substrate; a liquid crystal layer disposed between the substrate and the sealing plate; a light shielding film is formed on a predetermined region of the substrate; and a supporting member supporting the sealing plate and being arranged in a position between the substrate and the sealing plate where the light shielding film is formed, the supporting member being formed by exposing part of a photosensitive resin where the light shielding film is not formed.
Since the supporting member has high positional precision, the area for the supporting member can be reduced so as to increase the contrast ratio.
In the liquid crystal display device of the ninety-ninth aspect, the photosensitive resin can be a positive type resist, and the light shielding film can be made of a black resist.
The supporting member can be easily obtained by exposing the part of the photosensitive resin where the light shielding film is not formed.
In the liquid crystal display device of the ninety-ninth aspect, the liquid crystal layer can comprise a polymer and liquid crystal which is dispersedly held in the polymer.
In the obtained liquid crystal display device, the sealing plate is securely fixed onto the supporting member by the polymer contained in the liquid crystal layer.
In the liquid crystal display device of the ninety-ninth aspect, a plurality of liquid crystal layers and a plurality of sealing plates can be arranged alternately on the substrate, and a plurality of supporting members for supporting the plurality of sealing plates can be each arranged in each position between adjacent ones of the plurality of sealing plates, where the light shielding film is formed, the plurality of supporting embers being formed by exposing the photosensitive resin via the part where the light shielding film is not formed.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a one hundred fourth aspect comprises the steps of: forming a light shielding film in a predetermined region on a substrate; forming a photosensitive resin layer onto the substrate having the light shielding film thereon; exposing part of the photosensitive resin layer from the substrate side, the part corresponding to a region on the substrate where the light shielding film is not formed; removing an exposed part of the photosensitive resin layer by developing, thereby forming a supporting member in a position corresponding to the predetermined region where the light shielding film is formed; bonding a sealing plate to the supporting member; and forming a liquid crystal layer between the substrate and the sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto.
The supporting member is securely formed in the position corresponding to the opening portion so as to increase its positional precision, so that the area for the supporting member can be reduced without damaging the liquid crystal layer by the positional deviation of the supporting member. As a result, the obtained liquid crystal display device has a high contrast ratio. In addition, mask alignment becomes unnecessary because no mask is used, so that the fabrication cost is reduced.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the one hundred fourth aspect, the photosensitive resin layer can be made of a positive type resist.
Since the structure allows the supporting member to be made of a common material, it can be formed easily and at a lower cost.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the one hundred fourth aspect, the step of forming the liquid crystal layer can comprise the sub steps of: sealing a mixture solution into between the substrate and the sealing plate, the mixture solution containing liquid crystal and a photosensitive polymer precursor; and exposing the mixture solution from the sealing plate side so as to harden the polymer precursor contained in the mixture solution, thereby forming the liquid crystal layer comprising polymer and liquid crystal dispersedly held in the polymer, and also fixing the sealing plate onto the substrate.
As a result, the sealing plate is easily and securely fixed to the substrate by using the polymer hardened by exposure.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the one hundred fourth aspect, at least one other liquid crystal layer can be formed by conducting the steps of: forming a second photosensitive resin layer onto the sealing plate; exposing part of the second photosensitive resin layer, the part corresponding to the region of the substrate where the light shielding film is not formed; removing an exposed part of the second photosensitive resin layer, thereby forming a second supporting member in a position corresponding to the predetermined region where the light shielding film is formed; bonding a second sealing plate to the second supporting member; and forming a second liquid crystal layer between the sealing plate and the second sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The liquid crystal display of a one hundred eighth aspect comprises: a display layer being composed of a substrate having a common electrode on an internal surface thereof, a sealing plate supported by a supporting member arranged on the common electrode, a liquid crystal layer formed between the substrate and the sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, and a pixel electrode disposed on a surface of the sealing plate, the surface being opposite the liquid crystal layer; an array substrate having a non-linear element for driving the liquid crystal layer and an output electrode being electrically connected with the non-linear element and supplying the pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the liquid crystal layer, the array substrate being disposed so as to face the substrate; a connection means having a function of electrical connection and a function of fixed connection, the connection means electrically connecting the pixel electrode and the driving electrode, and fixedly connecting the display layer and the array substrate.
According to the liquid crystal display device, the display layer comprising the liquid crystal layer is fixedly connected to the array substrate having a non-linear element by the connection means, unlike the conventional liquid crystal display device in which liquid crystal layers are formed on an array substrate comprising a non-linear element.
Since the display layer and the array substrate are independent of each other, even when a display defect is detected in the liquid crystal layer or other components, the array substrate having the non-linear element does not have to be abandoned. As a result, a liquid crystal display device with an improved yield is realized at a low cost.
Furthermore, in the liquid crystal display device, the connection means electrically connects the pixel electrode on the display layer to the driving electrode which is connected to the non-linear element. Since the two-dimensional relative position of the pixel electrode and the driving electrode may be within a range of their being connected by the connection means, the positional precision does not have to be so high. The fixed connection between the array substrate and the display layer by the connection means is performed by bonding, heat depositing, pressing, or the like.
In the liquid crystal display device of the one hundred eighth aspect, the connection means can be made of an anisotropic conductive adhesive material.
The use of the anisotropic conductive adhesive as the connection means enables the pixel electrode on the display layer to be electrically connected with the driving electrode on the array substrate, and prevents the anisotropic conductive adhesive from short circuiting because it is conductive only in the thickness direction.
The liquid crystal display device of a one hundred tenth aspect comprises:
a display layer being composed of a liquid crystal layer formed between a substrate and a sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the sealing plate being supported by a supporting member arranged between the substrate and the sealing plate; and an array substrate having a non-linear element for supplying the liquid crystal layer with an electric field so as to light-control drive the liquid crystal layer, the array substrate being disposed so as to face the substrate, wherein the display layer comprises at least two liquid crystal layers; a first liquid crystal layer being formed between a common electrode formed on an internal surface of the substrate and a first sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the first sealing plate being supported by a first supporting member arranged on the common electrode and having a first pixel electrode on a surface thereof opposite the common electrode; and a second liquid crystal layer being formed between the first sealing plate and a second sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the second sealing plate being supported by a second supporting member arranged on the first sealing plate and having a second pixel electrode formed on a surface thereof opposite the first pixel electrode; the array substrate comprises at least two driving electrodes and at least two non-linear elements; a first driving electrode for supplying the first pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the first liquid crystal layer; a first non-linear element electrically connected with the first driving electrode; a second driving electrode for supplying the second pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the second liquid crystal layer; and a second non-linear element electrically connected with the second driving electrode; wherein the liquid crystal display device further comprises a first connection means and a second connection means each having a function of electric connection and a function of fixed connection; a first connection terminal is electrically connected with the first driving electrode via the first connection means; a second connection terminal is electrically connected with the second driving electrode via the second connection means; and the display layer and the array substrate are fixedly connected via the first connection means and the second connection means.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved. The fixed connection between the array substrate and the display layer by the first and second connection means is performed by bonding, heat depositing, pressing, or the like.
The liquid crystal display device of a one hundred eleventh aspect comprises:
a display layer being composed of a liquid crystal layer formed between a substrate and a sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the sealing plate being supported by a supporting member arranged between the substrate and the sealing plate; and an array substrate having a non-linear element for supplying the liquid crystal layer with an electric field so as to light-control drive the liquid crystal layer, the array substrate being disposed so as to face the substrate, wherein the display layer comprises: a first liquid crystal layer being formed between a common electrode formed on an internal surface of the substrate and a first sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the first sealing plate being supported by a first supporting member arranged on the substrate and having first pixel electrode on a surface thereof opposite the common electrode; a second liquid crystal layer being formed between the first sealing plate and a second sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the second sealing plate being supported by a second supporting member arranged on the first sealing plate and having a second pixel electrode formed on a surface thereof opposite the first pixel electrode; and a third liquid crystal layer being formed between the second sealing plate and a third sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the third sealing plate being supported by a third supporting member arranged on the second sealing plate and having a third pixel electrode formed on a surface thereof opposite the second pixel electrode; the first pixel electrode is electrically connected with a first connection terminal; the second pixel electrode is electrically connected with a second connection terminal; and the third pixel electrode is electrically connected with a third connection terminal; the array substrate comprises: a first driving electrode for supplying the first pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the first liquid crystal layer; a first non-linear element electrically connected with the first driving electrode; a second driving electrode for supplying the second pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the second liquid crystal layer; a second non-linear element electrically connected with the second driving electrode; a third driving electrode for supplying the third pixel electrode with a driving voltage for driving the third liquid crystal layer; and a third non-linear element electrically connected with the third driving electrode; the liquid crystal display device further comprising a first connection means, a second connection means, and a third connection means each having a function of electrical connection and a function of fixed connection, where in the first connection terminal and the first driving electrode are electrically connected via the first connection means; the second connection terminal and the second driving electrode are electrically connected via the second connection means; the third connection terminal and the third driving electrode are electrically connected via the third connection means; and the display layer and the array substrate are fixedly connected via the first connection means, the second connection means, and the third connection means.
In the liquid crystal display device of the one hundred eleventh aspect, the liquid crystal composing the first liquid crystal layer, the second crystal layer, and the third liquid crystal layer is guest host liquid crystal containing liquid crystal and a dichroic dye having a color of cyan, magenta, or yellow, each dichroic dye having a different color from remaining dichroic dyes.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved. The fixed connection between the array substrate and the display layer by the first-third connection means is performed by bonding, heat depositing, pressing, or the like.
The liquid crystal display device of a one hundred thirteenth aspect comprises: a display layer composed of a liquid crystal layer formed between a substrate and a sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the substrate having a common electrode on an internal surface thereof and the sealing plate being supported by a supporting member arranged on the common electrode; and an array substrate having a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal layer and a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged at predetermined intervals and electrically connected to the driving circuit, the array substrate being disposed so as to face the substrate; and a connection means for connecting the display layer with the array substrate.
Since the array substrate has the pixel electrodes thereon and the display layer has the common electrode and the liquid crystal layer, different display patterns can be achieved only by changing the formation pattern of the pixel electrodes. Thus, the display layer can be applied to various array substrates having different display patterns depending on the uses. The general versatility of the display layer also realizes a cost reduction.
In bonding the display layer to the driving substrate, their relative position in a plane can be arbitrary. Since alignment is unnecessary, assembly is simplified.
In the liquid crystal display device of the one hundred thirteenth aspect, the sealing plate can be made of a polymer resin whose thickness is in a range of 0.5 to 10 m inclusive.
By making the thickness of the sealing plate 0.5 m or larger, the liquid crystal layer is prevented from having concave and convex portions, and the gap of the liquid crystal layer has a uniform thickness. By making the thickness of the sealing plate 10 m or below, it becomes unnecessary to provide the pixel electrodes on a side of the sealing plate opposite to the sealing surface. As a result, the liquid crystal layer can be driven with a low voltage.
In the liquid crystal display device of the one hundred thirteenth aspect, the substrate and the array substrate can be made of a polymer resin.
The obtained liquid crystal display device is thin and light in weight and defies bending and other deformation.
The liquid crystal display device of a one hundred seventeenth aspect comprises: a display layer comprising a liquid crystal layer and a plurality of pixel electrodes, the liquid crystal layer being formed between a substrate and a sealing plate by sealing liquid crystal thereinto, the substrate having a common electrode on an internal surface thereof and the sealing plate being supported by a supporting member arranged on the common electrode, and the plurality of pixel electrodes being arranged at regular intervals on a surface of the sealing plate, the surface being opposite the supporting member; a plurality of array substrates having a plurality of non-linear elements for driving the liquid crystal layer; and a connection means for connecting the display layer with the plurality of array substrates so as to electrically connect the plurality of pixel electrodes and the plurality of non-linear elements.
In the conventional multi-screen LCD, the pitch of the pixel electrode becomes uneven at the joints of panels, so that the joints are noticeable in the display screen. However, in the above structure, the plurality of pixel electrodes are arranged at regular intervals on a surface of the sealing plate adjacent to the array substrates, so that the joints between the array substrates do not appear on the display screen. As a result, a multi-screen liquid crystal display device with unnoticeable panel joints is realized.
In the liquid crystal display device of the one hundred seventeenth aspect, the plurality of array substrates can be arranged in a same plane; and the display layer can face the plurality of array substrates within a range of each of the plurality of pixel electrodes being electrically connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of non-linear elements via the connection means.
The structure makes it unnecessary to arrange the array substrates so precisely as to make the joints between adjacent panels unnoticeable in bonding the display layer to the plurality of array substrates. In other words, the two-dimensional relative position of the display layer and the array substrates maybe within a range that the pixel electrodes and the non-linear elements are electrically connected by the connection means. As a result, requirements for the positional precision can be derogated.
Furthermore, it is unnecessary to increase the pixel pitch in order to make the panel joints unnoticeable because of the above-mentioned reasons. As a result, a multi-screen liquid crystal display device which displays high precision images is realized.
In the liquid crystal display device of a one hundred eighteenth aspect, an optical color filter layer can be disposed between the substrate and the common electrode.
As a result, a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a one hundred twenty-first aspect comprises a display layer composed of a substrate, a sealing plate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed therebetween, and an array substrate having a driving element for driving the liquid crystal layer, the method comprising the steps of: forming the display layer comprising the sub steps of: forming a common electrode on an internal surface of the substrate; forming a supporting member onto the common electrode; forming the sealing plate so as to be supported by the supporting member; forming the liquid crystal layer by sealing liquid crystal into between the substrate and the sealing plate; and forming a pixel electrode on a surface of the sealing plate, the surface being opposite the liquid crystal layer; providing the array substrate with the driving element and a driving electrode; and electrically connecting the pixel electrode and the driving electrode via a connection means.
Even when a display defect is detected in the liquid crystal layer or other components, the array substrate having the non-linear element does not have to be abandoned. As a result, the fabrication cost is decreased and the yield is increased.
As the seventh step, the substrate and the array substrate are bonded to each other so that the pixel electrodes and the driving electrodes can be electrically connected via the connection means. Since the two-dimensional relative position of the pixel electrode and the driving electrode may be within a range that their being electrically connected by the connection means, the requirements for the positional precision can be derogated.
In the method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of the one hundred twenty-first aspect, at least one other liquid crystal layer can be formed by conducting the steps of: forming a second supporting member onto the pixel electrode; forming a second sealing plate so as to be supported by the second supporting member; forming a second liquid crystal layer by sealing liquid crystal into between the sealing plate and the second sealing plate; and forming a second pixel electrode on a surface of the second sealing plate, the surface being opposite the second liquid crystal layer.
The method enables the plurality of liquid crystal layers using very thin sealing plates to be easily stacked, so that a liquid crystal display device which can display color images is achieved.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a one hundred twenty-third aspect comprises: a first step of forming a common electrode on an internal surface of a substrate; a second step of forming a supporting member on the common electrode; a third step of forming a sealing plate so as to be supported by the supporting member; a fourth step of forming a liquid crystal layer by sealing liquid crystal into between the substrate and the sealing plate; a fifth step of forming a pixel electrode on a surface of the sealing plate, the surface being opposite the liquid crystal layer; a sixth step of examining display conditions by supplying a voltage to the common electrode and the pixel electrode; a seventh step of providing an array substrate with a non-linear element for driving the liquid crystal layer and a driving electrode; and an eighth step of electrically connecting the pixel electrode and the driving electrode only when a display layer is in excellent display conditions, based on results of an examination conducted in the sixth step.
Since the display conditions of the display layer is examined before the display layer and the array substrate are connected via the connection means, even when a display defect is detected, the array substrate having the non-linear element does not have to be abandoned. As a result, the fabrication cost is decreased and the yield is increased.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a one hundred twenty-fourth aspect comprises: a first step of forming a common electrode on a surface of a substrate; a second step of forming a supporting member on the common electrode; a third step of forming a sealing plate so as to be supported by the supporting member; a fourth step of forming a liquid crystal layer by sealing liquid crystal into between the substrate and the sealing plate; a fifth step of forming a pixel electrode on an array substrate so as to face the common electrode; a sixth step of providing the array substrate with a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal layer; and a seventh step of bonding the array substrate to the substrate with an adhesive material.
Since the array substrate has the pixel electrode thereon and the display layer has the common electrode and the liquid crystal layer, it is unnecessary to form the display layer in accordance with the pattern form of the driving electrode in the driving substrate. Thus, the display layer can be applied to various array substrates having different display patterns depending on the uses, which realizes a decrease in the fabrication cost. In bonding the display layer to the substrate, their relative position in a plane can be arbitrary. Thus alignment is unnecessary, so that assembly is simplified.
The method for fabricating a liquid crystal display device of a one hundred twenty-fifth aspect comprises: a first step of forming a common electrode on a substrate; a second step of forming a supporting member on the common electrode; a third step of forming a sealing plate so as to be supported by the supporting member; a fourth step of arranging a plurality of pixel electrodes at regular intervals on a surface of the sealing plate, the surface being opposite the supporting member; a fifth step of forming a liquid crystal layer by sealing liquid crystal into between the substrate and the sealing plate; a sixth step of providing an array substrate with a plurality of non-linear elements for driving the liquid crystal layer; a seventh step of dividing the array substrate into at least two; and an eighth step of electrically connecting each of the plurality of pixel electrodes to a corresponding one of the plurality of non-linear elements via a connection means.
Unlike the conventional liquid crystal display device in which the pixel electrodes are formed on the display layer side, the plurality of pixel electrodes are arranged at regular intervals on a surface of the display layer opposite to the sealing surface of the sealing plate. Therefore, it is unnecessary to arrange the panels so precisely as to make the deviation between the measures set before dividing the substrate and the measures obtained after the substrate is actually divided in order to make the joints unnoticeable. In other words, since the two-dimensional relative position of the display layer and the array substrate may be within a range that the pixel electrodes and the non-linear elements are electrically connected, the requirements for the positional precision can be derogated. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to increase the pixel pitch in order to make the panel joints unnoticeable, so that images of high precision are displayed. As a result, a multi-screen liquid crystal display device with unnoticeable panel joins is realized.